Mail ordering has become a widely used way of buying goods. More and more companies offer virtual department stores, in which the customers can electronically put goods in a shopping cart that later will be transferred by the respective company into a dispatch order, so that in a warehouse a shipment comprising the items ordered (and sometimes additional items such as samples, vouchers, invoices, etc.) can be assembled based on the respective dispatch order.
While assembling a shipment in a warehouse of a specialized distributor is nowadays often done more or less fully automated, packaging the items to be shipped is still a challenge, in particular when a shipment comprises several items of different sizes and in different quantities. Often, the items to be packaged are provided automatically to a person packaging the items manually. Depending on the size and number of the items, the person selects a suitable box size. Generally the box is a cardboard box that upon packaging is assembled from a corresponding cardboard blank.
To automate the packaging process even in cases where the items vary in size and number, a system has been proposed in WO 2014/117817 A1 that allows creating a fully custom sized box, i.e. a box, of which width, length and height are adapted to the respective content of the box. The box is created from a roll or a stack of cardboard by cutting out and creasing a custom sized blank from which then the box is folded automatically.
WO 2016/059218 A1 discloses a system and a method for automatically packaging items varying in size and number applying two separate packings, namely an inner packing surrounding the items to be packaged in a first direction, and an outer packing surrounding the inner packing in a second direction, said second direction being substantially perpendicular to the first direction such that the inner and the outer packing form a combined package enclosing the package items from all sides.
WO 2013/117852 A1 discloses a system and a method for reducing the height of a cardboard box to the apex of the highest item in the box. In this respect, it should be noted that the terms “height”, “length” and “width” as used herein refer to the usual definitions of the three dimensions of a box having the shape of a rectangular block with a rectangular bottom and two pairs of parallel rectangular sidewalls, wherein                the height of the box is defined by the length of the sidewalls in the direction from the bottom to the top of the box,        the width of the box is defined by the length of the bottom between the first pair of parallel sidewalls, usually the pair of sidewalls forming for an observer the left and the right sidewalls of the box, and        the length (sometimes also called depth) of the box is defined by the length of the bottom between the second pair of parallel sidewalls, usually the pair of sidewalls forming for an observer the front and the back of the box.        
It is obvious that depending on the position of the observer, the terms length and width can be interchanged. For sake of simplicity, in the following it is assumed that the box is seen from one perspective and length and width hence have a distinct meaning, which however is not limiting and obviously what in the following is called width can be named length (or depth) and vice versa.
While the known systems and methods work well for a number of applications, it has turned out that there is a need for optimization of the packaging process under a number of aspects. Depending in particular on the number and the shape of the items to be packaged, creating a custom sized box around items to be packaged can be difficult. If prefolded boxes are used as disclosed in WO 2013/117852 A1, of which only one dimension, namely the height, can be adapted to the actual content, the finished package may not be optimal with respect to volume, while transportation costs often depend not only on the weight, but also on the volume of a package. Besides, placing the items in a prefolded box having the standard rectangular block shape with a bottom and four sidewalls and being open only towards the top usually requires gripping and lifting the items over one of the sidewalls, which in particular in cases, in which a huge variety of items of different shapes and sizes needs to be packaged, can be difficult to automate.
Known systems for automatically creating custom-sized cardboard boxes are generally quite complex and hence expensive in acquisition and maintenance, so that they only pay off for companies sending out large numbers of packages. In order to be able to always use appropriately sized boxes, small online shops and retail stores offering shipment either have to keep a broad variety of different boxes ready for packaging items varying in size and number to be shipped or they have to use rather complex blanks as disclosed in FR 2 987 824 A1 for creating cardboard boxes and corresponding separate lids adapted to the size and number of the items to be packaged.
The blanks proposed in FR 2 987 824 A1 for creating a box and a corresponding lid comprise numerous crease lines/indentations and cuts to facilitate folding a box and a corresponding lid having different dimensions. As a broad variety of possible boxes and lids can be formed with the blanks according to FR 2 987 824 A1, different sections formed by the crease lines and cuts are coloured differently to allow the user to identify, which sections have to be folded in order to create a box or a lid of a certain size. Due to the high number of crease lines and cuts, the stability of a corresponding box and a lid is not optimal. Moreover, producing such coloured blanks with numerous crease lines and cuts is complex and hence expensive.
GB 371 751 A discloses a blank of cardboard for use in the making of a wrapper or box. The blank has a cruciform shape so as to provide a flap on each side of a rectangular bottom panel. A series of ribs is formed in the blank, all being pressed out from one side of the blank to cover the entire area thereof. The ribs are arranged in parallel longitudinal rows and parallel transverse rows.
GB 2 167 043 A discloses a variable depth container is disclosed, which is formed form a blank which comprises a rectangular base portion having flaps respectively hinged to each of the sides. The panels cooperate to define the top of the contained and its side and end walls. Fold lines provided in the side and end walls facilitate variation in the depth of the container and lines of weakness permit removal of portion of flaps according to the container depth chosen.